I knew taking care of him would be a challenge, but I had no idea how much. I already felt as if I was failing. Miserably.
Four days ago, I received a phone call from Julia Richmond, and my life changed. While processing the fact that my best friend was gone, I was stumbling through this guardian role.When I picked up Noah, the babysitter—Mrs. Patterson—had warned me that he wasn’t talking much or eating either. Since then, I had tried everything I could think of.
I gave him cereal, Pop Tarts, chicken nuggets, mini pizzas, and other food I believed kids enjoyed—some I remembered him eating whenever I spent time with him and his dad, Brandon. But all he did was take a bite or two and then push the plate away. If I didn’t figure out something soon, the kid might die of malnutrition.
“Do you want to get something to eat? We can get hotdogs.” Personally, I wasn’t hungry, but I figured he might be. He hadn’t eaten much of the cereal I gave him this morning and had only eaten a couple of chips for lunch.
“Okay.” He answered in a dull, lifeless voice.
He might take two bites and then be done, but I was hoping he would eat more than that. All kids liked hotdogs, didn’t they?
My phone rang, and this time I recognized the number, though I hadn’t saved her name. It was Julia, the child advocate.Crap. I had forgotten to call her.
Instead of putting her on speaker as I normally would when I was alone in the car, I stuck my Bluetooth in my ear and answered. “Marcus Hayes.” I sounded as lifeless and dull as Noah did.
“Hello, Marcus. It’s Julia Richmond, the child advocate. We spoke a few days ago, and I’m checking to see how you and Noah are doing.” Thankfully, her voice wasn’t accusatory.
I glanced at the rearview mirror. Noah sat with slumped shoulders, head bent, a slight furrow on his brow. What was he thinking about?
“We’re... managing,” I answered, hoping she could read between the lines.
“Managing. Okay,” she said, in a way that made me suspectshe fully understood that I was struggling. “As I explained during our first conversation, I’d like to assess how Noah is adjusting to his new environment. Are you at home right now?”
“Actually, I’m on the road. I just left my office, and he’s with me.”
“In that case, would it be too much trouble for you to stop by my office? There’s a park across the street, and we can go there to be on neutral ground and talk. Would that work for you?”
“Yeah, that would work. Do you want us to come now?”
“If you’re available, yes. Or I can stop by your home later.”
“Now is fine. Where are you located?”
She gave me the address, and I was familiar with the area.
“We’ll be there in about twenty minutes.”
“Perfect. I’ll see you then.”
I hung up, and my eyes shifted to the rearview mirror again. “Hey, buddy,” I said to Noah, “we’re going to make a quick stop before we get something to eat, okay?”
“Okay.” He never looked up.
When we arrived at the building where the Safe Harbor Child Advocacy office was located, I parked my vehicle, climbed out, and helped Noah down from the backseat. I held his smaller hand in mine as we walked toward the building. When we were almost at the door, I saw a petite woman standing out front. She couldn’t be more than five foot three, with dark brown skin and her natural hair parted in the middle and smoothed into a bun at her nape. In tan slacks and a cream blouse, she appeared professional yet approachable.
She smiled and extended her hand. “Marcus?”
“That’s me.” I took her smaller hand in mine and briefly shook it. Oddly, I experienced a tingling sensation in the palm of my hand but ignored it. Granted, I found her attractive, but this was not the time to get distracted.
“I’m Julia. Nice to meet you.”
“Likewise. This little guy right here is Noah.” I made my voice sound more animated to try to get a response out of him, but he kept looking down at the pavement.
Julia crouched to his level and softened her voice. “Hi, Noah. I’m Miss Julia. I love your costume. Are you Robin, Batman’s sidekick?”
He nodded, not meeting her eyes.
“I always liked Robin. He’s very brave, just like Batman.”
